tucker



Nb Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. A. TUCKER. APPLIANGE FOR CLOSING OPENINGS IN BUILDINGS AUTOMATICALLY.

Patented Oct. 5, 1886.

[7271 240 i? diam Am MHz-isms 05% aw/QM Pilaf- N. PETERS. Mam-Lithograph, Wnhinginn. ac

(No Model.) N 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. A. TUCKER.

APPLIANCE FOR CLOSING OPENINGS IN BUILDINGS AUTOMATIGALLY.

No. 350,451. Patented vOct. 5, 1886. Fly-.9, 1 2 .7

1 Hum mm a MM A M 331 1 W fluow I m MM;

N. PETERS, Phoio-mhognphar, Wiuhhgian. D. C,

4 Fig. 12 is an outline of an electric circuit that UNITED STATES- CHARLES A. TUCKER, on ISLIP, N. Y.,

OFNEWARK, N. J., AND TUCKER APPLIANCE FOR CLOSING OPENINGS ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES R. HEDDEN, & BAXTER, OF BROOKLYN, N. Y. I

IN BUILDINGS AUTOMATICALLY.

:jlECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 350,451, dated October 5, 1886.

Application filed January 28, 1886. Serial No. 190,071. (No modeh) I To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. TUCKER, a citizen of the United States, residing in the town of Islip, in the county of Suffolk and 5 State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Appliances for Closing Openings in Buildings Automatically by Electricity; and I do hereby declare that the'followingis a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accoinpanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention is especially applicable to warehouses and storage buildings in which I 5 doorsand windows and other ventilating-openings are required to be left free for the purpose of ventilation, and where it is important to close the same quickly in case of tire,in order to prevent draft and confine the flame, dad, but of course it may be employed in any other structure for analogous purposes; and it consists, essentially, of an arrangement of the doors, shutters, or other closing devices, so that these will operate to close their appro- 2 priate openings automatically at the proper time.

Figure 1 is an elevation ofthe inner wall of a room, showing my invention as applied toa sliding door arranged on the face of the wall. 0 Fig. 2 is an elevation of a portion of a wall, showing my invention as applied to a sliding door arranged within the wall. Fig. 3 is a section of Fig. 2 on the line of the upper face of the arm D. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are details of 5 the detent c. Fig. 7 is an elevation of part of a hinged shutter and window, showing another method of applying my invention. Fig; 8 is a section on the plane of the window-casing in Fig. 7. Fig. 9 shows a releasing device which may be employed within the building with the device in Fig. 8. Fig. 10 shows areleasing apparatus in elevation, which may be employed on the outer wall of buildings. Fig. 11 is an end view of the catch 10 in Fig. 10.

' may be arranged foroperating my invention.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the drawings.

0 represents the wall of the room, and B 5c the doorway or other opening therein, and A the door for closing the'same. In Fig. 1 this door A is shown arranged to move on an in cline, b, which is attached to the face of the wall, the door being suspended thereon by suitable hangers, a a,so that if left free tomove 5 5 the door A would run down the incline by gravity and close the openingB.

On thedoor A a detent, c, is secured,which consists of a friction-roller, j, in suitable bearings therefor. (Shown enlarged in Figs. 4 6 to 6.)

At a suitable point on the wall a lever, D, is pivoted, as at k, having an up-and-down motion, and provided at its free end with a catch, 1 so that it will engage with the detent 6 c and retain the door in position open, and on being raised will be disengaged from the detent and allow the door to move down the incline and close the opening.

Toregulate the scope of motion of the catch t, a set-screw, h, is arranged beneath the lever D, and by sloping the face of the catcht' opposite to the face that engages with the detent c the catch is automatically pushed up as the detent strikes against it when the door is 7 5 pushed back.

At a suitable point on thelever D an armature, d, is secured, and above that, on the wall,

a magnet, d, is attached in such relative position that when the magnet is excited it will s attract the armature d and draw it and the catch i up, so that the catch will release the detent c and permit the door to pass down to the opening B. The magnet (Z is electrically connected to a suitable battery, as f, and to a thermostat, e, by wires 9 g. The ther-- mostat should be disposed at a suitable place near the ceiling of the room, where it will be most quickly affected by the heat, and should be set at such a degree as will operate the de- 0 vice as soon as the heat of a fire operates upon the thermostat. The parts are to be arranged so that until the desired degree of heat is reached the electric circuit will be broken, but will be closed when thetemperature rises.

A convenient and sensitive thermostat consists of a thermometer having a wire fused in its bulb to reach the" mercury, andlanother wire fused into its stem at the designed degree of heat, these wires being then connected to too the positive and negative poles of the battery, with the magnet (Z intermediate. When the 35 is shown.

45 usual manner to close the windows;

50 on the side of the building.

mercury rises to the designated degree of heat, it comes into contact with the wire fused into the stem at that point and closes the circuit. Any other thermostat of snffieient sensitive- :ness, however, will answer the purpose.

In Figs. 4 to (i I show the details of the detent e for raising and enga ing with the catch '5. It consists of a base, j, through. which it is secured to the door,and uprights j j, in which I o the detent-rollerj is pivoted. The faces ofthese uprights toward the catch i are inclined, as shown clearly in Fig. 4, and the periphery of the roller j is carried beyond the line of the uprights j, so that the face of the catch 2', when the door is held open, will bear against the roller only. By this arrangement the lever D can be operated with very little power, as but little friction is encountered in raising it.

The operation is as follows: \Vhen the door is opened, the rollerj of the detent c strikes the door in place, open, the electrical circuit being broken. IVhen the temperature rises far enough to operate the thermostat and close the electrical circuit, the magnet (1 becomes excited, attracts the armature d, and thereby o raises the lever I), and with it the catch t, disengaging it from the detent, when the door at once slides down the incline and closes the opening 13.

In Figs. 2 and 3 a modification of the device In this the door A is within the wall 0, instead of on. the side of the wall, as in Fig. 1. In this arrangement I bend the end 0 of the lever c and carry it through a suitable opening in the wall to engage with the detent c at the desired point; otherwise the operation and structure are the same as those already described.

In Figs. 7 to 11 I show my invention as applied to shutters, which may be hinged in the E is the opening or window, and F the shutter for closing it. On the shutter at a suitable point I arrange a springbolt, Z, disposed so that when left free it will engage in the staple on Back of the bolt an eye, a, is arranged on the shutter F, which acts as a guide for the chain or cord 0, which is secured to the end of the bolt Z and carried through a slot in a swinging arm, 1), and

5 around the pulleys q g, which are pivoted to the under side of the window-casing G, and over the pulley 1', pivoted to'the inner face of the wall H. To the end of the cord or chain 0 a weight, I, is attached, sufiicient to close the shutter when left free to draw on 6 5 where it passes over the pulley r, and prevent the weight I drawing on the cord 0. The face of the wheel .9 may be suitably roughened or notched to catch and clog the cord 0. Near the support J a suitable bearing, 1), is arranged, which may be a pin with a friction-rolL er, and between this bearing and the pivoted support J a plug, a, is suspended which holds the support J steadily in such position that the wheel s will clog the rope 0. This plug a is pivotally attached to apivoted lever, K, provided with an armature, d. Under this is placed a magnet, d, which is connected by the wires 9 g with the positive and negative poles of a suitable battery, having a thermostat intermediate, as in the other instance of my inycntion already described. A spring, 8, is attached to the support J and to the wall in such relation that when the plug a is withdrawn this spring will draw in the support .I and carry the clog-wheel s away from the pulley r. The arm 1; is pivoted to the under side of the window-casing in such position that when carried in parallel to the side of the casing G it will not project beyond it, and therope 0 is thickened up in a suitable manner at 0, so that that point cannot pass through the slotin the arm 1), but not so much as to prevent easy passage across the pulleys q l The operation is as follows: lhc weightI is drawn up so as to slacken the rope between the pulley r and the spring-bolt Z, in order to allow the latter to operate on throwing open the shutter. As the weight draws on the rope, the eccentric s bears against the rope and clogs it. The shutter in being opened draws with it the arm 12, which is moved by the thick portion 0 of the rope, and the bolt [is shot into the staple m. \Vhen the thermostat closes the circuit and excites themagnet (l, the armature d is attracted, drawing down that end of the lever K pulling up the plug a. This allows the spring 8 to draw back the support J and carry the eccentric s away from the chain or cord 0, allowing the weight to draw upon the cord, thereby drawing back. the bolt Z,an d then drawing in the shutter F.

In Fig. 10 a catch is shown which may be arranged on the outer wall of a building. In this w is a catch, which is suitably pivoted, so that it will tend to swing up and hold the shut ter M. It has an inclined face, so that when the shutter strikes it the engaging portion of the catch will be pressed down until the edge of the shutter has passed over it, and then its weighted end will bear down, raising upthe engaging end, as shown in Fig. 1.1. A frietion roller operating on its engaging face may be employed to diminish the friction. On the face of the wall a suitable box or case, N, contains the magnet d,and a pivoted lever and an armature, IJ. The magnet (l is connected with a battery and thermostat, as already described, by the wires 1. In this arrangement the cord 0, arm 1), pulleys q q, pulley r, and weight I are also employed; but the cord. 0 is fastened to the eye a and the weight is left free to draw on the shutter. IVhen the magnet (Z is exeiteddt attracts the armature,drawing down the armature end of the lever,bringing up the other end of that lever, and throwing up the weighted end of the catch w,which allows the weight I to draw on the cord 0 and close in the shutter. Only one shutter is shown in the drawings; but of 'course the invention can be applied to as many shutters or doors as may be desired. r

In Fig. 12 I show in outline a circuit for operating my invention arranged in a system. P P are the floors of a building. (I d are the magnets. f is the battery, and e e are the thermometers orthcrmostats. One pole of the battery f is connected through all the magnets to all the bulbs otthethermometcrs. The other pole of the batteryf is connected by the wire 9 to the stems of all the thermometers. By this arrangement when any or all of the thermostats become heated and close the circuit, all the magnets become excited and operate upon all the closing devices in the system,closing every opening in the warehouse or building which is provided with my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'

1. The appliances shown for closing openings in buildings by electricity, consisting-of suitable closing-doors, adapted to close their openings automatically when free, a suitable detent, as 0, and catch 1', to retain the same in position open, in combination with an armat.ure,d, magnet (1, battery f and its connections, to form an electrical circuit, and a thermostat, as e, interposed in said circuit and adapted to close the same at a determined degree of temperature, substantially as described and shown.

2. In appliances for closing openings in buildings by electricity, a closing-door adapted to 1110"3 across its opening automatically when free, having a detaining device, a suitable catch to engage with-such detaining device and retain the door in position open, and an armature adapted to actuate the catch and withpivoted catch-bar D, and adjus'ting screw h,

substantially as described.

4. In appliances for closing openings in buildings by electricity, the combination of the door F, swinging arm 1), cord 0, bolt Z, staple m, pulleys q q 0', Weight I, and a suitable catch to support the weight in position, with a releasing mechanism operated by an electromagnet and adapted to release the weight to draw the door F across its opening, substantially as described and shown.

5. In appliances for closing openings in buildings by electricity, a series of closingdoors adaptedtto move across their openings automatically when free, such doors provided with suitable detents and catches to engage with such detents and hold, the doors open, andarmatures to actuate the catches and release the closing-doors, in combination with a series of magnets arrangedto attract such armatures, electrically connected with each other and with the poles of a battery, and a series of thermostats adjusted to close the circuit at determined degrees of temperature, and electrically connected with each other and with the other pole of the battery and with the magnet-wires,and adapted tocomplete the circuit and excite all the magnets in the series when the circuit is closed by any one of such thermostats, substantially as described and shown.

CHARLES A. TUCKER.

Witnesses:

J. A. DUKE, JOSEPH FABEL', CHANNING BAXTER. 

